Senior Mental Health Occupational Therapist

Norwich, East of England, United Kingdom Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust provides child and adult mental health services, learning disability, wellbeing, older people's and eating disorder services across Norfolk and Suffolk.

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and want to reflect the diversity of our local communities within our teams. We welcome applications from all talented individuals with the relevant qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience.

Please note due to the nature of our roles and patient demographic, you will be required to undertake physical intervention training and remain trained, as required by your role.

Job overview

We are seeking an experienced and enthusiastic Senior Occupational Therapist to join our Central Youth Service, supporting children and young people with complex mental health needs.

The ideal candidate will have a strong desire to support young people to reach their goals and be able to demonstrate the following qualities required for the role, these are, experience, passion, resilience, empathy, great communication skills and an ability to be flexible and manage risk.

The postholder will lead on the delivery of high-quality, evidence-based occupational therapy, embedding occupational therapy principles and the recovery-focused model within multidisciplinary practice. Working collaboratively with young people, families, carers and partner agencies, you will undertake specialist occupational assessments, develop occupation-based formulations, and deliver tailored interventions that promote participation, independence, emotional wellbeing and positive life outcomes.

Main duties of the job

As a senior member of the team, you will contribute to multidisciplinary assessment, risk management and care planning, providing expert occupational therapy advice for complex cases. You will utilise standardised and non-standardised assessments, outcome measures and occupation-focused interventions to support young people in achieving their goals across home, education, social and community environments. The role will involve leading on service development initiatives, quality improvement projects and the promotion of evidence-based practice, while ensuring that the voice of the young person and principles of co-production remain central to care delivery.

The successful candidate will demonstrate strong leadership skills and a commitment to professional excellence. You will provide clinical supervision, support the development of junior staff and learners, and act as a champion for occupational therapy within the service and wider organisation. Working autonomously while contributing to the strategic development of the Central Youth Service, you will help shape innovative and responsive interventions that improve outcomes for children and young people, whilst maintaining professional standards in line with HCPC requirements, Trust policies and contemporary occupational therapy practice.

Working for our organisation

Within the Youth Team we pride ourselves on the care we give to both our service users and each other. You will find a positive and supportive environment with a strong team ethic. Our goals are to provide great care with great outcomes where we challenge ourselves to grow both individually as clinicians and collectively as a team, so that we can better meet the needs of the young people.

On a wider scale there are many other benefits to working for NSFT as an organisation, some of which are:

• NHS pension
• a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
• career progression
• starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
• staff physio service
• NHS discounts and many more

• NHS pension
• a comprehensive in house & external training programmes
• career progression
• starting annual leave of 27 days per annum increasing to 33 days pa based on length of service (plus paid bank holidays)
• staff physio service
• NHS discounts and many more

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please find attached our Job Description and Person Specification for more detail on your Key Accountabilities, then if you feel you have what it takes to make a difference in your local communities, click APPLY!

Person specification

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Supervisory/appraisal skills
• Working knowledge of Mental Health Act 1983 and any updates
• Specialist knowledge and application of Occupational Therapy Assessments and interventions relevant to this client group

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of current legislation including risk assessment and CPA.
• Up to date with latest evidence-based research for specialist area.
• Knowledge of principles and application of Clinical Governance.

Skills

Essential criteria

• Familiarity of audit procedures.
• Group work skills
• Ability to work under pressure managing own caseload and effective prioritisation
• Good verbal and written communication skills

Desirable criteria

• Data inputting
• Experience in running therapeutic groups
• Experience of assessing and prescribing equipment.

Experience

Essential criteria

• Post registration experience in mental health.
• Experience of MDT working
• Experience of working with groups of people
• Ability to work both independently and under supervision

Desirable criteria

• Experience working in a range of mental health settings.
• Supervising students/staff.
• Previous line management experience.
• Familiarity of audit procedures.

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• BSc/MSc or Diploma in Occupational Therapy
• Practice Educator (AHP) Registered with the HCPC

Desirable criteria

• Practice Educator qualification
• Relevant post graduate training courses
• Clinical supervisor course

Other

Essential criteria

• Ability to travel independently
• Willingness to work flexibly
• Commitment to professional development and lifelong learning.

Please be aware that, due to the high number of applications for certain roles, this vacancy may close earlier than the advertised closing date. We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.

YOUR APPLICATION

We can provide all our job application materials in alternative formats so that these are accessible to everyone. Should you require any documents within this job pack in an alternative format, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email removed].

PLEASE NOTE: If you use a hotmail, msn or yahoo e-mail account, you will need to check your "junk" mail regularly as these email providers will divert any communication from this Trust/NHS JOBS straight into your " junk" inbox.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES Apart from its legal duties in relation to equality and diversity, the Trust recognises and actively promotes the benefits of a diverse workforce and is committed to treating all employees with dignity and respect regardless of race, gender, disability, age, sexua